Evaporation (A-Z Story Game)
by claraowl
Summary: In which a phone arrangement is made to Ren's happiness, Hikaru finally gets to spend some time with Kyoko, Sawara muses over the oddity of his life at LME, fairies dance in the park, and Bo saves the day. "E" entry in the A-Z Story Game; oneshot.


**Hello, and welcome to my second contribution to the A-Z Story Game!**

**Sadly, I did not put this in Sawara's POV, simply because then I could not actually show the commercial as I wished to do it if I did. :( I did include some of his thoughts, though! I hope that counts. Also, I **_**tried**_** to make this romance/humor. Really I did – but Hikaru makes **_**everything**_** so bittersweet! *hmph* If I owned SB, this might be easier.**

**Please note that Kyoko introduces herself as "Kyoko" because it's her stage name! :D**

TBM was chaotic on a good day, and downright insane on a bad one. The day on which the story begins was not quite at either extreme, but somewhere in between…

"Sir, you can't go in there – Bo is changing!" the stage hand stammered, attempting to block the excited director.

"Nonsense! It's not like I've not seen a man changing before," Kokawa Yuuta scoffed, flinging the door open and striding into the room… and facing what appeared to be an ooze of melted cheese, clad in a rather edgy crop-top.

"Kokawa-sama… Bo is played by a girl," the unfortunate hand added, a bit late, as Kyoko flushed and sank into the folds of the Bo costume; she'd been imitating cheese to let off the excess heat she'd gathered while being Bo. Yes, she was dressed, but she was wearing one of Setsu's tops! She'd been planning to change out of it – she'd only worn it so she wouldn't die of heat while she was Bo – but that no longer seemed to be an option.

The director raised an eyebrow appraisingly. "Are you dressed?"

"Y-Yes," Kyoko gulped, stood, and bowed. "Hello. I'm Kyoko. I play Bo." When she received no response, she glanced up. The director was observing her with an odd expression on his face – as if he'd been smacked in the face with an early Christmas present. "…Sir?"

"You are an actress, yes?" he demanded, eyes sparkling.

"I-I'm still in training, sir, but I'd like to be one, yes," she stammered. The Ishibashis entered the room, fetched by the stage hand in case the director was unstable.

"Says the girl who played Mio and is playing Natsu," laughed Shinichi, leaning against the door frame.

"You can rightfully call yourself an actress, you know," Yuusei added. Hikaru did not add anything, as he was understandably a bit preoccupied by Kyoko's outfit.

The director's eyes widened further, and he clasped Kyoko's hands in his own. "You would be willing to take part in my next commercial, yes? As yourself and Bo?"

"I—" Kyoko gulped, flustered.

"Perfect!" Kokawa clapped. "I shall send the details to your manager. Now," he smirked, turning to the three Ishibashis, "I would also ask one of you to participate. Which one is willing?" Shinichi and Yuusei shared a grin and seemingly evaporated from the scene – when in fact they merely retreated to the hallway. The director grinned widely. "Yes, you shall work! Good, good, very good. I shall send the notes to your manager as well. Good day!"

Hikaru blinked, and the director had left in a whirlwind before he could even say a word. "What just happened…?" His confusion was palatable; Shinichi and Yuusei took pity on him and rematerialized, pulling him from the room so that Kyoko could change and they could brief him on what had just occurred.

A few minutes later, Kyoko exited the changing room, now clad in an ordinary outfit. "It will be fun to work with you, Hikaru-onii-san!"

A slight pang hit Hikaru at her latest honorific for him – she addressed all of them thusly, as Shinichi had insisted upon this – yet he smiled back at her. "It will indeed. Do you know what kind of commercial he wants us to do?"

"I don't know, though I have heard his name associated with cooking supplies – perhaps he has a new line of chicken-shaped ones, so he'd like you and Bo to promote them?"

"I hope that he'd cleared the use of Bo for this with the producer," Hikaru sighed, ruffling his hair. "Are you free tonight, Kyoko-chan? We could continue this conversation over dinner."

"I'm sorry, Hikaru-onii-san, I need to drop by LME before I go home tonight, and it's already quite late. Perhaps next time?" she smiled, and they said their farewells. Hikaru sighed as her back grew smaller; he'd not even had the chance to inquire about her odd attire underneath Bo's costume. How long had she been wearing that…?

He was broken out of his musings and rampant imaginings by a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from Shinichi. "At least she suggested it working next time, right chief?"

"And, before you ask, it probably has little to do with your height. You know that Kyoko-chan's too polite to decline an invitation without a decent reason," Yuusei reasoned, patting his other shoulder.

"Yeah… but what was with that shirt? It's not exactly…" he swallowed. "It's not exactly normal for Kyoko-chan; she's so modest."

"Ask her during the commercial shoot," Shinichi suggested. "Ready for pizza? Yuusei's treat."

"Oi!" protested the victimized Ishibashi. "It's your turn, and you know it!"

Hikaru laughed as his friends bickered back and forth; they always knew how to cheer him up. Plus, she _had_ suggested that next time she might accept…. He grinned. He could work with her, too, outside of the Bo suit – after all, the director had said that he'd need both her and Bo.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, Kyoko was hurrying through the halls of LME. She had a meeting with Sawara-san to discuss her job offers – he'd mentioned that she had a few, and should look through them soon. "Hello, Sawara-san! Thank you very much for taking time to meet with me!"

Sawara looked up, mildly amused by her abrupt entrance and excessively polite greeting. Honestly, this girl… just how many sides of her had he seen in the short time she had been under his care? "Likewise, Kyoko-chan. Please take a seat." His fax machine buzzed, spitting another offer out of the machine and quite literally into his lap.

Kyoko took a seat, excited; perhaps there would be a fairy this time! Or, at least, something less extreme than Mio, Natsu, or – she gulped, flushing slightly – Setsu. She listened raptly as Sawara began explaining the new roles available to the girl – mostly bully roles, and one request for a vengeful ghost in a PV (not Shotaro's, thankfully). There was also – true to the odd director's word – an offer to do a commercial for the new Kokawa kitchen utensil line. This line, it explained, was a 'fall harvest' line – and the producer of Kimagure Rock had okayed the use of Bo, as Kokawa was a sponsor of the show. "I have a question," Kyoko stated, once the basics of the different offers had been laid out (she wound up accepting the vengeful ghost offer, but her schedule had allowed for only two of the other offers to be accepted – she'd be spotlighting as the villain of the week on two different weekly dramas).

"Yes?" Sawara replied, marking the offers as necessary.

"Why does the Kokawa commercial script differentiate between me and Bo? Won't I be Bo?"

The dark-haired man furrowed his brow and glanced over the script again. "Yes, you will be. As far as I can tell, the scenes with Bo and you as yourself will be completely separate."

Kyoko nodded, comprehending his meaning. "That makes sense. Thank you, Sawara-san!"

"Take care on your way home, Kyoko-chan. It's late." _I wonder what she'll do when she reads the last scene. _

"Yes, sir!" Kyoko smiled, and bowed her good-bye. Sawara bid her farewell, idly thinking that, had they met in different circumstances, Kyoko and his daughter might have been the best of friends. (As it was, his daughter merely thought of Kyoko as 'that weird girl who scared Dad into letting her audition at LME' and later 'Mio' or 'Natsu.') His musings quickly evaporated into a wince as he heard her crash into something, apologize to the coatrack (he laughed), set it right, and make her way home, humming merrily. He chuckled. What was he going to do with this girl? He shook his head and straightened his papers; he should get going as well. Perhaps he would hear more about this chaos before the week was out – the commercial was to shoot the next day, after all, as Director Kokawa was notoriously impulsive. Standing, he passed a chuckling Lory, who was clad in a mariachi outfit (for whatever odd reason), and bid him a good night. Lory burst into song in response, and Sawara was treated to the rather odd sight of an anaconda playing a maraca with its tail. His dreams that night would be very strange indeed – though no stranger than they'd been since he'd first joined LME.

"I'm home," Kyoko called softly a little while later, slipping off her shoes and entering Darumaya. It was late; the okami-san and taisho's voices could be heard murmuring quietly in their room. She smiled and padded up the stairs to her room, bowing a greeting to her now-dried Queen Rosa and the makeup from Moko. Humming the theme song from Box 'R' and slipping off her socks, she prepped for her bath. The water was warm, and relaxed her after a long day. It felt good to be home, with kind people in the next room. She made a mental note to offer to work the evening shift the next day, if nothing came up before then – but she'd been so busy lately that the okami-san usually told her to rest on her free evenings. She paid rent, the okami-san had argued, and that was more than enough, especially now that she had more acting jobs. When the taisho had nodded in silent agreement, Kyoko had realized that she'd lost this battle, and simply thanked them.

After her bath, she padded back into her room, musing that it would be nice if she had cat feet – that way she would never have to worry about awakening anyone when she returned home late due to a job. She settled onto her futon, and had just begun taming the kraken that was her hair when her phone rang. She set down her brush, approached the ringing object cautiously, and prodded it with her foot – as if expecting it to bite her. The caller ID flashed across the screen, and she flipped it open, smiling.

"Good evening, Mogami-san. Am I calling too late?"

"Good evening, Tsuruga-san. You're not calling too late; I was just brushing my hair before bed." She spoke softly, so as not to disturb the other inhabitants of the home, and settled back onto her futon with a smile. He had been calling more frequently lately, even on the days that they actually encountered each other. Her voice grew unintentionally tender at the thought. "How are you? Did you eat a good dinner?"

Ren's voice hummed through the phone, laced with light amusement and comfort. "I'm doing well, thank you, and I did eat dinner – I can even send you a picture, if you like, of the plate. We stopped at a restaurant between filmings today."

"No, that's okay. What did you have to eat?"

"Frog legs," he deadpanned.

"You're joking," she gasped; did he truly eat things like that?

"Correct! Give the girl a prize," he laughed, slipping back into an American phrase.

She laughed, then, and dared to ask, "What prize does the girl get?"

"Anything that suits her fancy," he replied without missing a beat, his voice suddenly serious.

Kyoko, incorrectly interpreting him, slipped into Setsu. "But if you give me whatever I want, I'll become spoiled, onii-san… you wouldn't want that." She gave a small, conspiratorial giggle, as if sharing some great secret.

He swallowed the saliva that had suddenly filled his mouth. "But I love spoiling you. Don't you want me to be happy?"

"Of course I do. I just don't want you to have to deal with a spoiled brat."

"You would never become a spoiled brat, as you know full well."

She giggled. "I hope not… I want to be able to give you whatever you want in return, you know."

There was a pause, and then he replied, "I look forward to it, even if you spoil me as much as I spoil you."

She fluttered her eyelashes as his poster, and shot back teasingly, "Oh, I couldn't possibly do that."

"You do," he whispered, all levity gone from his voice, "you already do."

After a moment's awkward silence, she said, "Thank you for calling me tonight, Tsuruga-san. I enjoy our talks; I always feel like I sleep better after them."

"You are quite welcome, Mogami-san…and I assure you, the feeling is mutual. I only sleep well when I know that you've gotten home safely."

She paused, the true reason for his concern flying over her head with a lovely whistling sound, bouncing against the wall, and coming to rest next to her pillow – it would haunt her dreams that night. "You're a good sempai, Tsuruga-san. Thank you for worrying about me. Would you…." She trailed off, blushing at her audacity.

"Would I?" he prompted, when it became obvious that she would not be continuing her sentence.

"Would you like me to call and at least leave a message after I get home, so you can sleep better? I'd hate for you to lose sleep. You might get sick again!" She said this all in one breath, and then braced herself for the worst.

"That would do wonders for my health, Mogami-san. I would like that very much." He smiled into the receiver, and she swore that a few of her demons died. They talked for a few more minutes about upcoming jobs and the like, until he heard her yawn. He then reluctantly whispered, "Good night. Sleep well."

"Good night, Tsuruga-san. Sweet dreams." She smiled, hung up, and picked up her brush in something of a daze. Her grudges were rather grumpy, but she could not force herself to care. She then shook her head – much to her grudges' pleasure – and pulled the script for the commercial towards her with one hand, so that she could begin building the character.

He waited until he heard the 'click' of her line to hang up his end of the phone. Smiling, he crawled into bed, and promptly fell asleep – where he was greeted by the sweet dreams that Kyoko had wished him… all of which included the wisher herself.

The next morning dawned rather early for Kyoko, who had a morning of school before leaving to film the commercial in the evening. Fortunately for her, the morning flew by, with absolutely no antagonism from any of her classmates (Mimori was mercifully absent), and she was able to study uninterrupted until she needed to leave. She happily ate her lunch, and then pedaled over to TBM, where most of the commercial would be filmed. A stage assistant whom she knew well pointed her in the right direction; she set off at a smart pace, even though she was a bit early. It wouldn't do to get lost and thought and risk being late, and she needed to pick up Bo on the way.

Hikaru bounced somewhat nervously on the balls of his feet, grinning. Yes, it was a job – and, knowing Kyoko, she would be in character for most of it – but it was a job with Kyoko. He laughed from nerves and actual amusement when she rounded the corner, pushing the cart that contained Bo. She glanced up at him, smiled, and pushed the cart over to the side of the room before walking over to greet him.

"Good afternoon, Hikaru-onii-san!" Her voice was cheerful, and her bow was precise as ever.

"Good afternoon, Kyoko-chan," Hikaru grinned, giving his own little bow. "Ready for the commercial?"

"I hope so," she nodded. "I think that Kiku will work well for the role."

"Kiku?" Hikaru inquired.

She nodded. "Yes. Her name means 'chrysanthemum' – and chrysanthemums symbolize hope for the future in flower language. Since the commercial's plot centers around a budding friendship," (Hikaru winced; it was supposed to be a boy trying to impress a potential girlfriend, with a little help from Bo) "I thought that the name would be appropriate."

A wry little smile twisted the male's lips. "I think so, too." Perhaps this could work – it did seem awfully familiar, after all; a guy trying to impress a girl, and it flying right over her head. He was looking forward to the last scene, though…

"Ah, good, you're both here!" The director bustled over, making shooing motions with his oddly small hands. "Good, good. Both of you, go to costumes and make-up! We're starting with the scenes with Bo!"

Kyoko bowed, and then rushed off to get into Bo's chef costume. Hikaru also gave a bow, and then was swept away to the costuming department. He emerged a few moments later clad in relatively simple clothes, albeit covered by an apron and rather ridiculous chef's hat. He was then shown over to a set, where he was informed that he was to cook as poorly and messily as humanly possible. Kyoko giggled inside of Bo, having been forcibly reminded of a certain someone's failed attempt to make omurice – and then abruptly ceased giggling at the reminder of the taste. She then shook her head, banishing all thoughts of that dangerous man, and focused on the scene before her, awaiting her cue.

Hikaru was doing his best to look absolutely flustered. He'd already managed to upend the oil on the floor, which had led to his spilling flour absolutely everywhere. Now, coated in the white powder from head to toe, he was attempting to whisk eggs with an excessively shabby-looking whisk. He glanced nervously at the clock – _I'm trying to cook dinner for Kyoko, _he told himself – and the whisk chose that moment to let its wires snap. The result was amusing for anyone who happened to not be Hikaru at that moment, as he was suddenly covered in strips of egg white. He sighed, sat down on the kitchen floor, and put his head in his hands. _And exactly how am I going to explain this mess? _

"CUT!"

Hikaru stood up and looked at the director. "Yes?"

"We need to be able to see your face. You're disappearing behind the counter. Re-try from you looking at the broken whisk!"

"Yes, sir." He flushed, embarrassed. He'd been so close to getting this done in one shot… if only he was a little taller! Then they might've been able to see him over the counter.

"And… Action!"

This time, he expressed his despair by pushing the egg bowl to one side, plonking his elbows down on the counter, and releasing a rather large sigh. He buried his face in his hands, and then heard a familiar sound….

_Plonka… plonka… plonka-plonka-plonka._

Bo burst onto the kitchen set in all his chef glory, and held up a little sign that proclaimed: NEVER FEAR – BO IS HERE!

Hikaru bit back a laugh, and warbled out his line. "Bo…? What are you doing here?"

Bo gave the impression of rolling his eyes, and flipped over his sign. I HAVE ARRIVED TO HELP YOU, OF COURSE! YOU ARE LACKING IN THE NECESSETIES AND SKILLS OF COOKING! Bo then pulled out several pieces of the fall harvest Kokawa kitchen utensil line, and held them up as if presenting them as a sacrifice.

Hikaru's face lit up, and he delivered his next line. "Of course! Now I can make this dinner perfect!"

Bo patted Hikaru's flour-coated shoulder condescendingly, and glanced disdainfully around the kitchen. He then (after casting a suspicious look at the bowl of eggs) dusted off the cookbook and lifted two utensils – one of them a pumpkin-shaped spatula – into the air, indicating that he would cook.

"CUT! Okay, get cleaned up and changed! We're shooting the dinner scene next!"

Kyoko lifted off her Bo head, smiled at Hikaru, and hurried off with little _plonkas_ for her character change. He gulped – that smile really ought to come with a warning label – and hurried off to rid himself of flour, slightly embarrassed that she had to see him in such a pathetic situation. At least he didn't have to worry about his voice cracking from nervousness during the next scene – the dinner portion would be shot entirely in silence, with them only miming a conversation as food would gradually appear to vanish from their plates.

Kyoko was having a very slight problem concerning Kiku: When creating Kiku, she had not taken into account the fact that the director had seen her in one of Setsu's tops the previous day. Hence, she was doing some rather hasty adjustments to the character; they were, fortunately, rather small. She could still work with the basis of Kiku: A rather withdrawn girl who only really wanted someone to care for her, but did not know how to express this. She was initially wary of Hikaru's character (whom she had dubbed Tombo), but by the end of dinner saw him in a kinder light, especially since she knew his whimsical side existed. This whimsical side was made obvious through his choice of kitchen utensils. Cheesy, yes, but it was a commercial.

Kiku entered the scene somewhat awkwardly, eyes shifting from side to side. She either ignored or did not notice 'Tombo' gaping at her punk-rocker-like outfit (Kyoko sighed in relief that it at least covered more skin than what Setsu wore) as he pulled out her chair for her. She ducked her head in thanks, and he took the seat directly across from her, and mimed an offer of food.

She glanced up and saw the pumpkin spatula he was using to offer her some of Bo's cooking. Then, slowly but surely, a smile stole across her face and filched away 'Tombo's' breath – and evaporated the awkward atmosphere. Kiku began emerging from her shell thereafter, proving herself to be (through gestures and facial expressions) actually a rather sweet young woman, despite her rough exterior. 'Tombo' blushed when Kiku drew a little heart in the condensation of his glass, causing her to duck her head before peeking back up with a grin. Inside, Kyoko giggled. Hikaru-onii-san still had some flour on his cheek. When she informed Kiku of this, the punkish girl grinned. That would make the last bit of the scene perfectly plausible, she assured Kyoko, and nothing to worry about. He's onii-san, right? (Setsu, in some corner of the Kyoko mental meeting room, protested that the boy was most definitely _not_ onii-san, but she was ignored.)

The plates were now empty (they had been all along, according to reality; the food would be added with CG), and the two had stood up to say their farewells. 'Tombo,' gesturing wildly due to nerves, asked something of Kiku. She giggled lightly, stepped towards him, and kissed the flour off of his cheek. Then – with both of them blushing wildly, though for different reasons (Kyoko, of course, was simply not used to kissing anyone; Hikaru's blush was for obvious reasons) – she explained with gestures that he'd had flour on his cheek. Hikaru, now not sure whether he was in character or not, rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, and mimed words. She smiled, bowed goodnight, and walked off the set. Hikaru stared after her, hand on his cheek. He swallowed, and then grinned.

"CUT!" the director called gleefully. "Wonderful, just wonderful! That's the fastest I've ever gotten a commercial recorded! Great job, yes, great job! You two are free to go, hours ahead of schedule! I will work with you again! Yes, yes, good!" Clapping his hands like a child who'd been promised a new bubble wand, he called over his crew to finalize things. He paused, had Kyoko do a short scene as Bo, peeking around the door of the kitchen and giving a thumbs-up, and then proclaimed them free to go. Kyoko and Hikaru bowed their thanks to the director and the crew, and then hurried away to change.

Hikaru, having shed his costume and returned to his everyday clothes, rushed over to intercept Kyoko, who was making her way towards the door. "Kyoko-chan!"

She turned. "Good work today, Hikaru-onii-san!"

"You too," he gulped. "You're free now, right? Since you'd planned on this taking a lot longer?"

Kyoko mentally checked her schedule and her watch – two o'clock, and then nodded. "Yes, until six." _I don't have anything that needs to be done at LME today, and okami-san and taisho know that I only have a commercial today, so they'd worry if I came home late. Plus, I'd like to help them with dinner tonight, and acting school isn't in session today._

"Then would you like to spend some time with me until then? We could try out the new arcade or get some ramen or something – my treat," Hikaru babbled quickly, attempting to gauge the emotions in her eyes. She was too polite to refuse without good cause, he knew – but he'd hate to pressure her if she really didn't want to spend time with him. "Of course, if you'd rather rest, I understand – it must be rare that you get a day off nowadays—"

"I'd like that," Kyoko smiled, having come to her own (completely incorrect) conclusion in her head. "It's always nice to spend an afternoon with a friend! I do insist on paying my own way, though." They began walking together, Hikaru with a cap on his head – he was recognizable, after all. Kyoko chose to forgo a hat, as people never recognized her when she wasn't in character.

"Don't be silly! I invited you, so it's my treat." He laughed, relieved and ecstatic that she had finally accepted, as they pedaled leisurely along the main drag. TBM was close to downtown, so it had not taken long at all for the two of them to bike there (Hikaru, who had been planning to ask Kyoko to join him after the commercial, had elected to ride his bike that day to avoid transportation confusion.)

"But—" Kyoko protested for the umpteenth time.

"Oh, come on!" Hikaru cut her off with a grin while they were paused at a stoplight. "You call me onii-san; why not let me dote on you a little?"

These words elicited a rather strange reaction from Kyoko; she shuddered slightly and flushed a pale pink, memories flashing through her mind and leaving traces in her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, Hikaru-san, I didn't mean—" she gulped. "I'm very sorry… you just seemed like a funny guy, a good big brother – the leader of your group – so I started calling you that. I'm very sorry."

"Eh?" he blinked. "No, it's fine! You can just call me 'Hikaru' if you like, or," he added hastily, seeing the unadulterated panic in her eyes, "you could use 'kun' or even 'onii-san'… I really don't mind."

"Are you sure… Hikaru-onii-san?" she gulped, sure that this was improper, but not sure how to deny it after he had so kindly reassured her.

"Yup!" he smiled as they began pedaling again. "After all, I call you Kyoko-chan, don't I?"

"True," she nodded. After a few minutes of pleasant silence and two instances of him almost running into a lamppost because he was only paying attention to his companion, she asked, "Where are we going, by the way?"

"Huh?" he abruptly stopped his bicycle; they'd left the main drag without his noticing. Kyoko stopped more smoothly beside him, confused. Then she laughed when he explained that he hadn't noticed that they'd passed it. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

She shook her head. "It's fine. You know that I often get lost in la-la land, so I can't really condemn you for doing the same. Isn't it a beautiful place?" She beamed, and her eyes sparkled, her head full of fairies.

He swallowed, face red. "S-So do you want to g-go back and l-l-look for it?"

She snapped out of her fairy land, and then requested almost shyly, "Actually, if you don't mind, I'd rather ride through the park. It's closer, and it's beautiful this time of year. The fairies come out more frequently in warmer weather."

Though slightly confused as he was by her mention of fairies, Hikaru agreed to her preference. "To the park!" he declared grandly, grinning.

"To the park!" Kyoko echoed with a cheer, and began pedaling more quickly. "Can you see fairies too, Hikaru-onii-san?"

"I don't know," he responded after a moment of shocked silence. "I've never really looked for them."

"Why not? Think of what you might've missed!" Kyoko gasped, pedaling more quickly in her emotion and forcing Hikaru to pick up the pace.

"I guess that I just never thought of it," he shrugged, sheepish. "I read more adventure tales than fairy tales as I child."

Kyoko's bike skidded to an abrupt halt near the edge of the path, close to the small river. "You never…?" Tears were sparkling in the corners of her eyes. "Th-That's so sad!"

"Kyoko-chan?" Hikaru yelped, startled both by her sudden stop and broken expression. "Are… Are you okay? I didn't mean to offend you!"

She fairly leapt off her bike, grabbed his hand, and dragged him over to the water. The fairies there looked at her curiously, and asked if the man with her had made her cry. She quickly assured them that he had caused her no harm (they looked doubtful, but stopped hunting in the grass for discarded shards of glass to use as weapons), and informed them that she simply felt sad that he'd never had the chance to encounter any of their kind.

Hikaru, for his part, blinked in confusion. Yes, she looked absolutely adorable sitting by the edge of the water, talking to her 'fairies' – and he rejoiced that she had yet to release his hand, and that she was sitting close to him, albeit unconsciously (for warmth, really; the evaporation of sweat from her skin had chilled her slightly) – but he was slightly concerned for her, since as far as he could tell, nothing was there to hear her talk. She was even pausing from time to time, and seemed to hear some sort of response. "Kyoko-chan?" he whispered softly, so he would not startle her. She still jumped, as if she'd forgotten he was there. He chose not to waste time being hurt by this; her wild imagination was part of her charm.

She beamed at him. "Can you see them, Hikaru-onii-san? Aren't they beautiful?" She released his hand (he ignored the stab of disappointment in his gut) and cupped hers together, paused for a moment, and then held them up for his inspection. He could not see the fairy that rested there, giggling and posing.

"I'm sorry, Kyoko-chan," he breathed. "I can't see fairies." Upon seeing her devastated expression, he amended, "It's not that surprising, since I heard that fairies usually only pick a handful of people who are allowed to see them. You should feel honored that you're one of the few."

Kyoko's eyes widened, and she proceeded to gush her thanks to the fairies, who waved her thanks away as the least they could do for someone with such strong belief in them – belief kept them alive, after all. She then expressed her deepest apologies (sans dogeza, so as to not risk crushing any fairies) to Hikaru for rubbing the fact in his face. He waved it away with a smile. "It's fine. As long as you're happy with it, I'm happy."

"Really?" she whispered, her eyes appearing to be even bigger than usual.

Hikaru flushed. "Y-Yes, of course! It's normal for me to want the best for you, right?"

"Right, friends wish each other the best!" she beamed. "I wish you the best, too, Hikaru-san!"

He grinned at her, and as she returned to her fairies, his expression softened without her noticing. He was quite content to watch her for hours, with the way the sunlight filtered through the trees and she seemed to glow from both inside and out. He was entranced, and swore that she held a magic all her own, as if she herself was one of the fairies she so adored.

…Hours?

He glanced at his watch, and groaned. "Kyoko-chan, did you say that you were free until six?"

Her fantasy state evaporated when his groan reached her ears. "Yes, why?"

"It's five forty-seven."

Her happiness deflated. "I guess that we should get going, then. I promised okami-san and taisho this morning that if I got out before six, I'd come help."

"Okami-san and taisho?" he inquired as she bid her fairies farewell and they mounted their bikes. "I'll accompany you home. There are lots of weirdoes out."

"Thank you. I board at a restaurant, Darumaya," she explained as they began riding in the direction of aforementioned restaurant. "Okami-san and taisho are very kind to me, so I like to help out when I can."

"That's nice of you," he grinned. "See, I have an apartment next to the other two's apartments. We often eat together because of that. Maybe we should drop by Darumaya sometime."

"I'm sure that you'll love taisho's food! It's the best!" she beamed at him.

"I'm sure we will," he grinned back. "If it has the Kyoko-chan stamp of approval, then it must be good!"

Kyoko shrugged this compliment off gracefully, and turned the conversation to safer topics for the remainder of the ride home. They laughed back and forth a little while longer, and this time Hikaru really did run into a lamppost because he was too busy staring at her elated expression. He waved away her worried questions, saying that he was fine, but allowed her to fuss over him for a few minutes, reveling in her care and light touches. They then rode the rest of the way to Darumaya, with minimal disaster.

When they reached the sidewalk nearest to the alley leading to the side entrance, Kyoko dismounted and bowed. "Thank you for today, Hikaru-onii-san! I enjoyed working with you, and I had fun on our bike ride and during our rest in the park."

"Any time, Kyoko-chan," he grinned, and meant it quite literally. "I enjoyed today as well. Thank you for trying to introduce me to your fairies. I had fun."

She smiled in return, and they said their farewells until the next time she would don the chicken suit. He pedaled slowly out of her sightline, and then paused so that he could make sure she got into the building safely. He smiled, amused, when she began vibrating wildly and then dug out her phone. Perhaps, he mused, he now had a chance for her heart. Perhaps –

The rest of his thoughts died when he heard her greeting. "Hello! I'm sorry that I missed your call earlier, Tsuruga-san."

_What?_

"Yes, the commercial went well. Did you eat lunch?"

_She sounded so… comfortable. Almost tender._

"That's good to hear. Make sure to eat a good dinner, too! No onigiri!"

_How close are they, that she scolds him about his eating habits?_

"Hmm? Oh, Hikaru-onii-san and I went to the park."

_Don't say it so casually! Do you know how much nerve it took to ask you?_

"Yes, it was lovely! We stopped by the river and played with the fairies there. Hikaru-onii-san couldn't see them, though," she sighed, sadness obvious in her voice.

Whatever thought Hikaru might have entertained at this was annihilated when the change in Kyoko occurred. Her stance shifted; she gave a slight slouch, and placed her feet further apart than normal, shifting her hips slightly in a way that Hikaru found tantalizing. But it was what she did next that made his jaw drop and his blood surge.

She let out a sultry little giggle and positively cooed into the phone, "Of course not! He's not _that _type of onii-san. You're so overprotective. Don't you know who my most important man is?"

_What did she mean, _that_ type of onii-san? And more importantly, what was with that tone? How many times had she insisted that Tsuruga Ren was only her sempai, nothing more? _He swallowed, his throat tight. _How much hope did I have riding on the fact that I was her friend, while he was only her sempai? Is this because he's so much taller than I am?_

She shifted back to her usual position and tone, albeit a slightly grumpy tone. "It's not fair to pull out Cain-onii-san. You know that Setsu can't resist him."

_Cain? Setsu? That was a character just now?_

Her tone softened again. "Yes, I'm going to be working at Darumaya tonight. Be sure to eat a good dinner, okay?"

Hikaru hung his head as the dots finally connected: Her tender tone, her worry over food, her regular, polite refusal to join the Ishibashis for dinner... _She's in love with Tsuruga Ren._

"I'll talk to you later, okay? Yes. Goodbye, Tsuruga-san!"

Hikaru was glad that she could not see him or his expression as she walked into Darumaya. He did not want to trouble her, even though the evaporation of his hopes was too much to bear. She was happy, and that was enough… it had to be. If she was happy with him as just a friend or brother, that had to be enough for him.

It would be enough, even if it took time to heal. He could be happy as her friend; that's all he was this afternoon, right? He could manage it.

He smiled sadly. She was happy. He would be happy, too, even if it took some time.

**Please let me say: This is a one-shot! It was accepted as a challenge, and I chose to write it as if I were picking up the reader and plopping them in the middle arc of a story with no specific prologue or epilogue. That is why we see the events with Hikaru unfolding thusly, and Kyoko actually **_**suggesting**_** that she and Ren talk on the phone every night. **

**Now that I have said that, you are permitted to scream and fume and yell at me about the OoC-ness to your heart's content, dearest reader. I simply request that you do so in a review. ;) **

**I hope that you enjoyed it, and please feel free to join the A-Z Story Game in the Skip Beat Forum! :D We eagerly await more players!**


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